9 replies to this topic

[Lippy]

Look for the small, dark purple figs in green plastic pint baskets. You will thank me.

[TaliesinNYC]

I do occasionally. There's a stand on the corner of 89th and 1st. Great mangoes and papayas, cherries and avocadoes.

[Stone]

I recently started buying bananas at the corner stand. I was complaining that the only snack food available was candy, and someone scolded me for not buying fruit. The thought of eating fruit blanketed for hours in car exhaust, even with a careful scrubbing, does not appeal to me. I figure bananas are safer.

[StephanieL]

I sometimes buy from the cart right by my office--usually bananas, because they're cheap.

[FoodDabbler]

Look for the small, dark purple figs in green plastic pint baskets. You will thank me.

Do all sidewalk fruit stands have the same suppliers? The same figs?

[FoodDabbler]

The thought of eating fruit blanketed for hours in car exhaust, even with a careful scrubbing, does not appeal to me.

Your mistake is to scrub them. The exhaust fumes add an idefinable bouquet.
Try them (the fruit, not the fumes) in a jam jar.

[Lippy]

The thought of eating fruit blanketed for hours in car exhaust, even with a careful scrubbing, does not appeal to me.

Your mistake is to scrub them. The exhaust fumes add an idefinable bouquet.
Try them (the fruit, not the fumes) in a jam jar.

Really, how different is it from the Greenmarket? The fumes, I mean, not the quality, although those figs are the best I've ever had.

[Behemoth]

They're a regular feature in Munich, and the quality tends to be quite high. (They also sell stuff like fresh porcinis or white asparagus, in season). But we don't have much exhaust to worry about, as nobody uses the center of town for actual commerce, or anything like that.

[Suzanne F]

Of more concern than fumes is the possibility of short weight. Years ago, I was suspicious of the weight of the asparagus, and when I went back to the stand with something that weighed exactly 1 pound, found the scales to be way off.

But if they're selling by volume or count, that's not a problem.

[Stone]

Of more concern than fumes is the possibility of short weight. Years ago, I was suspicious of the weight of the asparagus, and when I went back to the stand with something that weighed exactly 1 pound, found the scales to be way off.

But if they're selling by volume or count, that's not a problem.

Wow. You are a stickler.